Italian celebration at ARC with Berenice Cube’s victory

This year 156 boats took part in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), the Atlantic rally from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia, dedicated to all enthusiasts who dream of crossing the Ocean and want to do it with their “normal” boats. A total of 253 boats and 1,300 sailors, ranging from 8 months to 89 years old, took part in the 2023 edition, including the ARC Plus version that stops in Cape Verde. To complete this magical 2023, the ARC also speaks Italian, with the victory of Marco Rodolfi’s Berenice Cube.

ARC and ARC Plus, the Atlantic speaks Italian

In professional sailing came the sidereal victories of Luca Rosetti at the Mini Transat, and Ambrogio Beccaria at the Transat Jacques Vabre, for Italian sailing also comes satisfaction from the world of cruisers who crossed the Atlantic with the ARC. We told you about the 100% Italian triumph, that of Nessun Dorma, Andrea Neri’s Italia Yachts 15.98, at the ARC+, the Atlantic crossing that from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, calling at Cape Verde, arrives at Grenada in the Caribbean Sea.

Italy, however, is now also celebrating the victory of Marco Rodolfi’s Swan 90 Berenice Cube, which crossed the Atlantic in 12 days 13 hours 54 minutes and 34 seconds, proving to be the first boat to cross the finish line in Santa Lucia. The race has several categories for the Atlantic rally, Berenice ran in the more sporty one, where engine use is prohibited. In the other categories, in fact, competitors are allowed, the ARC being in fact a rally rather than a regatta, to turn on the engine.

For owner Marco Rodolfi, the ARC is nothing new, as he has participated several times and this is not even his first victory. In fact, with the old Berenice, a Swan 80, Rodolfi had already won the ARC in 2014.

Berenice Cube is a 27-meter Swan 90 designed by German Frers and launched in 2008; in fact, she belongs to a different generation of cruising Swans than contemporary ones, with a narrower, sleeker hull.

Berenice’s performance was impressive, however, as 7 hours after the Italian boat’s arrival, the Marsaudon ORC50 Ti ana, a catamaran with pronounced speed characteristics that gave Rodolfi’s crew a run for their money.